Chelsea Football Club – From Big Spenders to Smart Spenders

“When Uefa decided for Financial Fair Play they were trying to do this to make every team [have] equal possibilities but the reality is that the big teams, the big clubs, the clubs with more years at the top with more fanbase around the world, with more income, are the players that keep being the big spenders.

So Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Manchester [United] – all these huge teams, I think they have an advantage. But at Chelsea we are so happy with the way we are doing things, with this great balance between the income and the money we can spend. We are so happy with that profile of club we are, we don’t want to change.”

Gone are the days when we used to splash 50 Million like pocket change for Shevchenkos and Torreses of the world. Gone are the days when we were ready to compete with any team across the globe and would pay any price to land a player we wanted to.

Those times are definitely gone! With the formation of FFP, splashing cash recklessly, like we used to have become impossible for a club like us.

Yes, we have always been accused of buying our way to the success since Roman Abramovic took over in the early 2000’s. And frankly, we did have to spend big to compete against the established clubs of the era but the tides have changed the directions in recent times.

Chelsea Football Club with their smart business sense has operated fantastically under the rules of FFP and our defense line-up is a clear evidence of how well we have done in the past few years.

Let’s take a look at this: (figures are rounded for simplicity)

Branislav Ivanovic (£10 million from Lokomotiv Moscow)

Cesar Azpilicueta (£7 million from Marseille)

Gary Cahill (£7 million from Bolton)

John Terry (Academy)

Kurt Zouma (£12 million from St. Etienne)

Filipe Luis (£16 million Atletico Madrid)

Andreas Christensen (Academy)

Thibaut Courtois (£6 million from Genk)

That’s our backline for this season with a grand total of 58 Million Pounds!

Now take a moment to think how much David Luiz cost to PSG? Or maybe how much the 22-year-old Elaquim Mangala cost to City? And then you would realize how our business deals were so commendable and tremendous, to say the least!

I mean seriously, 7 Million pounds for one of the best and most versatile fullback in the world! That was just a bargain!

Though, it’s true that most of our players out on loan may never get a chance to grace the pitch at Stamford Bridge, but then again buying them cheap from unknown clubs; we give them the opportunity to shine on the big stage and if they are good enough, or as Courtois would say, “world class”, they would eventually be drafted into the first team like Courtois or else we can generate a pretty decent profit out of them like we did with De Bruyne.

Whatever the case, it’s safe to say that we might not be the big spending force we once were but now we have learned to play it smartly and that is no doubt the way to go in the era of FFP!

KTBFFH!!

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